Hans Langenfeld was born in Kolberg (Pomerania). After fleeing, his family settled in Oldenburg, where Hans Langenfeld graduated from high school in 1952. He studied Latin, mathematics and physical education at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel. At the Institute of Classical Studies there, he earned his doctorate under Erich Burck on the Christianization policy and slave legislation of the Roman emperors from Constantine to Theodosius. He taught as a Latin and gymnastics teacher at various high schools and in university service. On September 2, 1974, he was appointed full professor at the Institute for Physical Education at WWU Münster.
After the University of Education was integrated into the WWU in 1982 and a new Department 20 for Physical Education and Sport Science was created, Langenfeld was elected vice dean in the summer semester of 1984 and dean of this department in October 1985, a position he held with few interruptions until his retirement/emeritus.
During his 25 years as a professor in Münster, he provided essential impulses for the development of sports science and academic sports education in teaching and research as well as in the theory and practice of physical education and sports. He rendered special services to historical sports pedagogy or historical educational research in the field of physical education and sport. In 1973 he was a founding member of the International Association of Sports History (HISPA) and maintained numerous international contacts with sports historians around the world. At the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History (NISH), he chaired its Scientific Advisory Board and edited the NISH Yearbook.
Of lasting value is his research in the field of sports history, which was reflected in numerous projects, including his DFG project "Sportangebot und -nachfrage in großstädtischen Zentren Nordwestdeutschlands", as well as national and international publications, including the sports history of Münster, which he published together with Klaus Prange 2022 by Aschendorff, and the Handbook of Sports History (together with Michael Krüger) (2010).
With Hans Langenfeld, the IfS not only loses a pioneer of the academization and scientification of physical education in sports, but also a dedicated gymnastics and sports teacher who came to appreciate the value of practical sports practice and teaching for education and upbringing.
